[Soultrader]

Take a look at a larger time frame such as the daily. Is the market rangebound or trending? One method I use is to see if there is higher/lower value placement or an overlapping value.

Price moves in zones, in market profile terms this would be value. Similar to Nicolas Darvas' Box Theory, price will find value/balance in one zone. When either the buyers or sellers express stronger confidence, price will move out of the zone into a new level. If there is price acceptance, we have a possible trend. As boxes or zones pile on top of each other we have an official trend.

In intraday trading, I will look at the past previous days action to see if price is stuck in any zone/box. Any breakout of this zone can lead to a trend.

Another method I use, is to watch for the range of the opening hour or perhaps listen to the noise in the pit. A tight range in the opening hour can lead to a possible choppy market. If there is not enough market participatin in the pit, the markets will be choppy.

Hope this helps.